look what happened to me on the way back from rs2

[iaint]

Originally posted by ro284
As i understand it, The tyres on the import cars coming over do not suit our roads, one of many reasons i bought the car i did is that it already had 17inch  UK tyres on, i gather it is something to do with the compound used in Japan, i think there were a couple of club cars that  lost control and crashed last year because of this. hopefully more knowledgeable guys will add to this, as it is rather important to us all.
Bob

Jap spec tyres do have a harder compound than euro tyres apparently and they just don\'t seem to get on with our roads at all.  They\'re also lethal in the wet.

At the end of the day though, tyres don\'t crash cars (unless they fail structurally!) - lack of talent/over confidence/mis-judgement are what generally sticks FDs into hedges.  Even the \'patch of diesel\' excuse is just that, an excuse.  Not saying I\'m not guilty of those \'sins\' myself though - 1 spin and a few unexpected sideways moments and I\'m lucky unlike others.

Get decent tyres on the car and keep them in good nick.  Do the sensible things like get a decent tyre-pressure gauge and check them regularly.  No point having a performance car and compromising it where it matters.

[normski]

Very odd looking wheel setup you got there!:rollin, WHats road holding like ?

[RobbieRX-7]

Originally posted by normski
Very odd looking wheel setup you got there!:rollin, WHats road holding like ?

SCARY!!:rollin :rollin

[Ricco_04]

Yeah, harder rubber on the jap tyres - they are also subject to hotter summer temps and therefore go a bit harder as they have been \'baked\' again. Its has been introduced in the SVA a few months ago now that cars must have tyres changed to UK regs/specs - obviously if your car was imported before this and you havn\'d used it much than you may still have Jap rubber on them!

[Juz]

de ja vu when i bought my rex a couple of months ago i was driving it home from scotland down a dual carriage way at about 70-80, in second lane next to an artic when exactly the same thing happened as to you! my tyre looked the same afterwards too, it\'s in the garage at home but will post a pic this week when i get back. mine was on the front wheel though, thankfully it didn\'t cause any other damage and i retained control of the car.

[Miguel]

Firstly, glad to hear you\'re OK. I\'ve had a blowout at the rear at high speed before and it resulted in a spin across 3 lanes of dual carriageway, luckily no accident resulted, but scary as hell.

Thoughts and knowledge:

Most performance tyres are made in Japan nowadays, aside from Kumho, Pirelli (Made in China these days), etc. Bridgestone, for example is wholy owned in Japan, as is Yokohama tyre Company, etc. Not sure about Falken, but I suspect the ones fitted to your car were made in Japan too.

There\'s not any difference between the rubber content or construction of tyres made for the Japanese market, or for the European market. Clearly Japanese don\'t make tyres that are dangerous for their own market. In fact, they make better rubber, too - not available in other countries, such as very soft compound s spec and SR spec tyres for track use.

The difference in grip is not because of what market the tyre was made for but in the age of the tyre.
If a car\'s tyres are very old, the rubber tends to have hardened with heat and age. As a result it will grip much less, especially in wet conditions. On some tyres, the rubber will be so old, it can have cracks between the blocks. This is especially evident in some very low mileage older cars.

On Performance bikes, for example - some people recommend changing rubber every 18 months, as the contact patch is so small and the results of a slide can be very dangerous, of course.

On the cars we supply from Japan, we inspect tyres to make sure they\'re OK for use. If too old and brittle, they get changed.

I think you\'ll find all tyres don\'t have metal braiding on the sidewalls. It\'s only on the area of the contact patch. The sidewalls are reinforced with nylon or a softer cloth material. Never with metal weave.

The likelyhood is that the tyre that has failed on your car has been run flat for some time - in the past, which has caused the sidewall to weaken. As a result - the cloth weave was weakened, as was the rubber. Perhaps there was a puncture, but it was repaired when the tyre should have been discarded.

Alternatively it could have been kerbed so strongly, it weakened the sidewall enough to cause a weak area, which could have caused the blow out - then the tyre would have ripper itself apart when punctured at speed.

If you ever see a bubble on the side of a tyre, this is a dead giveaway of such damage.

Anyway, at least you\'re OK. That\'s what counts, I guess

[Denny]

Originally posted by iaint
Even the \'patch of diesel\' excuse is just that, an excuse.

Try riding a motorbike around Milton Keynes for a while and you might change your mind about that.  The bus company there loves to overfill their leaky barges, and it\'s really not funny encountering a patch of roundabout covered in diesel on a 70mph road...

[Miguel]

I once Highsided my 650 Dominator at slow speed because of Diesel on the road....on my University Campus.

No fun at all. I was furious!!!:reallymad

Someone had seen a bus spill diesel and were good enough to answer my plea for any witnesses to this, from a noticeboard request.

Got the bus company to pay in full for the damage, which they were quite good about, luckily.

Diesel on roads is lethal, especially on 2 wheels.